


The Pack Returns

by maddyandsnoopy



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Family Feels, Family Reunion, Stark reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 13:53:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11945634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddyandsnoopy/pseuds/maddyandsnoopy
Summary: Jon finally arrives at Winterfell to see his younger siblings again





	The Pack Returns

Sansa stood under cover on the battlements of Winterfell, her cloaked face hidden as she faced the gate, watching her sister. Arya stood above the gate, feet apart and hands clasped behind her, gazing south to the King’s Road, looking like the ghost of Ned Stark come to guard his home once again.

“You always were a loud breather,” Arya said without turning. Sansa smiled and walked forward, joining her sister on the wall. “Robb must have stood here, before. Watching for Father.”

Sansa looked out at the vast emptiness of the North, coated in white snow and topped with a blanket of clouds. The only movement was Ghost running across the plain. He hadn’t entered the castle since Jon left him behind to go South, preferring to hunt and roam outside the walls.

The girls watched the massive wolf run across the landscape until he stopped, ears perked and looking towards the King’s Road. 

“Ghost sees something,” Arya said. Sansa squinted through the glare off the snow and saw movement on the road, coming over the ridge towards Winterfell.

“Riders,” Sansa said as a group of men on horseback began making their way towards the gate. She tried to make out the sigils on the banners flying above them, but just before they came into view, Ghost loped to the horses and fell into step beside a man in front.

Her face split into a smile and she looked down at Arya. “There’s only one person Ghost would do that with.”

Arya’s lips twitched, but she remained staring at the group as though she didn’t believe that it was possible. 

Then the banners became visible: gray Stark direwolves flying next to red Targaryen dragons while Jon and a beautiful silver haired woman rode beneath them. 

Arya’s head snapped up towards the sky, frowning, and Sansa followed her gaze to a patch of clouds that were swirling as if there was someone with a massive bellows above them, blowing air.

Then a massive pair of claws came down through the clouds, then a scaled body, then a tail, and finally a huge lizard head, flying above the Targaryen banners.

“Is that…” Sansa started.

“A dragon,” Arya finished.

The dragon flew above the approaching party for a moment before flying ahead and circling Winterfell. Sansa and Arya could hear shouts of surprise and fear as the great shadow fell across the castle, but their attention quickly returned to their approaching brother.

As the party drew near, Jon raised his eyes to the walls and spotted his sisters standing above the gate. Surprise and then a smile crossed his face as he raised his hand in greeting. Sansa returned the wave, but Arya just stared at him intently.

Sansa stepped back from the outer wall and turned to look over the courtyard, catching the attention of the guards. 

“Open the gate for the King in the North,” she called down to them and turned back to Arya, still watching Jon. “Arya, are you coming?”

Sansa began walking towards the stairs to take them down to the courtyard, glancing over her shoulder to check that Arya was following her.

By the time they got into the yard, the party had ridden through the gate. Jon was dismounting his horse, Ghost still by his side and Daenerys Targaryen next to him, gazing around at Winterfell with curiosity. 

He turned and spotted Arya and Sansa. He stared just as intently at Arya’s face as she had at his, and after a moment of gazing at each other, the two lunged forward, running together. When she was a few feet away from him, Arya leapt into his arms, hugging him around the neck like she did when they were both younger.

Jon laughed and hugged his sister tightly. Sansa grinned and, when Jon released Arya, moved forward to embrace her brother as well. 

“I’m glad you’re back,” Sansa said as he pulled away.

“Me too,” Jon said, stepping back to look at Arya again. He smiled at Needle at her hip. “You’re not the little girl I gave that sword to anymore.”

“I still know to use the pointy end,” Arya said and Jon laughed.

Sansa smiled too and noticed Daenerys watching the siblings reunite with a bittersweet smile.

Jon noticed her looking and turned to the queen. “This is Queen Daenerys Targaryen. Dany, these are my sisters, Sansa and Arya.”

Sansa glanced at Jon when he called the queen “Dany” and noticed Arya doing the same. “Welcome to Winterfell, Your Grace,” Sansa said. “We are honored to host you and hope you will be comfortable here.”

“Thank you, Lady Sansa,” Daenerys said, and Sansa could see immediately the regality with which she held herself. “It is an honor to meet you as well. Your brother tells me that you are wiser than your age would suggest.”

Sansa looked at Jon, surprised, and he shifted on his feet, uncomfortable now that his compliment was exposed.

“Yes,” Arya said. “Jon left Winterfell in good hands.”

Jon peered at Arya. “Did you just compliment Sansa?”

“Don’t expect it to happen again,” Arya said, flashing a childish smirk that reminded Sansa with a pang of pranks she would play on Father when Mother wasn’t paying attention.

“Bran is in the godswood,” Sansa said. “Should we go find him?”

Jon nodded and headed off, Arya walking in stride with him. Sansa began following them but paused, glancing back at the queen. Though strong and noble, she seemed lost in this snowy place, gazing around at it in awe.

“Would you like to see the godswood, Your Grace?” Sansa asked, and Daenerys smiled at her.

“I would,” Daenerys said, falling in step beside Sansa to follow Arya and Jon. “I don’t know much about your Old Gods.”

“We pray at the Heart Tree, where our brother is waiting,” Sansa said.

“You and your siblings are close?”

Sansa paused, gazing at Jon and Arya, and smiled. “Yes, we are.”

“You are lucky,” Daenerys said. “I never knew my eldest brother, and sometimes wish I hadn’t known the other.”

“We’re lucky to have found each other again,” Sansa said, “and have reclaimed our home together.”

Sansa felt rather than saw Daenerys look at her thoughtfully as they entered the godswood.

Bran was sitting in his wheelchair under the canopy, gazing at the face carved into the weirwood. 

Jon quickened his pace, coming up around Bran and stepping in front of him, Arya and Sansa close behind.

Bran looked up at Jon, a small twitch in the corner of his mouth the only emotion crossing his face. 

“Hello, Jon. I’ve been waiting to speak with you,” he said quietly, and Jon stepped forward and wrapped Bran in his arms, holding his younger brother close. Bran slowly raises a hand to place on Jon’s back, his eyes half closing.

“I can’t believe you’re alive,” Jon said, releasing Bran to step back and look at him. “You and Arya both.”

“It took a lot of pain and strife for us four to be here together today,” Bran said, looking at Jon unblinkingly. “You had your fair share.”

Jon looked up at Sansa and Arya questioningly, and Arya just shrugged. “He’s the Three Eyed Raven,” she said.

Jon nodded slowly and looked back down at Bran. “Whatever happened to us all before, we’re here together now,” Jon said.

“The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives,” Arya said and Jon and Sansa nodded, smiling. Bran gazed at his siblings, and Sansa thought that behind the blankness of his face, there was gladness in his eyes.

Bran looked to the edge of the clearing, when Daenerys stood watching the four reunite. The other three followed his gaze and she started to see all four Stark children staring at her. As she approached, Bran began speaking in his emotionless voice.

“Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons.”

She looked at him in surprise. “You’ve memorized my titles?”

Bran only blinked at her and she stared, unsettled.

“They’re quite a lot of titles,” Arya said.

“Arya!” Sansa said, turning to her sister to shush her, but Daenerys only chuckled. 

“They are,” she said before looking to the weirwood. “So this is a heart tree. My brother once told me the children of the forest used them to spy on humans, but he always did love to scare me.”

“Not spy,” Bran said. “Watch. Watch everything.” He looked at Jon again. “Jon, I must speak with you. In private.”

Jon nodded, puzzled. “We will, Bran.”

Daenerys looked around her again and stood up straighter. Sansa thought she looked like she was born to rule. 

“We five are all that is left of our two great houses,” Daenerys said and Bran’s eyes flitted between her and Jon. “And we are all that is left between the living and the dead. I think it is well past time to begin the Great War.”

“Aye,” Jon said, and the other three nodded in agreement. “Let us begin.”


End file.
